At 4:00 a.m. my cell phone rang. Alphonse Tyndall said, “It’s going down now. Might want to have someone outside Central Booking.”
I called and woke up Teddy. “Ted, I hate to ask, but the cops are busting a big porn ring. Need you over at Central Booking. Get photos of everybody going in.”
I could hear Mal in the background asking what was happening. Teddy shushed her before agreeing to go.
Bleary eyed, Teddy came into the office at 7:00 a.m. with Mal in tow. I had coffee and bagels on the counter.
“They arrested about a dozen people,” said Mal. “A few faces you might recognize.”
Teddy loaded the memory card from his camera on his Mac. Monte Tatum’s disheveled mug was among the photos.
Mal said, “The deputies said that there would be a press conference at the county courthouse at 11:00 a.m.”
I immediately wrote on the blog.
BUZZ: PORN RING BUSTED
Early this morning, law enforcement rounded up what may be a national pornography ring run out of the Pensacola area. Several people arrested, including at least one local bar owner. A press conference is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
Teddy and Mal picked out the four best photos, and Teddy began to edit them for the paper. We still needed the week’s issue completed and to the printer by 6:00 p.m. Fortunately, all the editorial had been copyedited and approved. Only two ads were outstanding.
At the staff meeting, we agreed to pull one news story, a profile of the new president of one of the hospitals. Instead, I would attend the press conference and complete an article by 2:00 p.m.
At the courthouse, the media gathered in Courtroom 601. Sheets covered two easels near the podium. Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents prevented us from peeking under them. Someone had tipped off CNN, and they had a crew from Atlanta in the room.
Florida Attorney General Charles Gore walked to the podium, flanked by State Attorney Newton, Sheriff Frost, Tyndall, and several law enforcement officers.
Tall, slim, gray-haired Gore said, “This morning we arrested thirteen men and women associated with a national pornography operation that generated millions of dollars exploiting women and children.”
The FDLE agents pulled back the sheets, revealing poster boards with photographs of those arrested. Tatum’s mug shot wasn’t there. Good thing I didn’t mention him in the blog post. At the top of the boards was written “Operation Cherry Bomb.”
Gore explained Operation Cherry Bomb had begun a year ago when police in Miami found a large porn site, Deb’s Playpen, populated with photos and videos of teenagers under the age of eighteen. Agent Alphonse Tyndall gained administrative access by anonymously posting photos with a computer code hidden in the file.
“It’s really cutting-edge police work,” said Gore. “Once he gained administrative access, Agent Tyndall attached the code to other photos on the site. Every time a website visitor clicked on an image, their computer also downloaded extra data that reported back to us the computer’s true IP address and type of operating system.”
Tyndall found that the Web server was physically located in a Pensacola-based hosting service, Lightning DNN. While the team had access to the website, they didn’t know the identities of the users and their passwords.
With a judge’s approval, the Child Predator Cybercrime Task Force staked out the home of one Lightning DNN employee, Wesley McKee, who was also tied to a film company that was secretly shooting porn videos in the area using amateurs. The film company uploaded the videos to Deb’s Playpen.
“At five this morning, we picked up McKee, Cecil Rantz, the owner of Happy Cumings Films, and their accomplices,” said Gore. “We have their computers, laptops, and portable hard drives. We also have what we believe is the master list of all 27,000 users of the site.”
The reporters pelted Gore and Tyndall with questions. They didn’t answer many of them, saying the investigation was still active. More documents would be released after the grand jury indicted the individuals and later at the trials.
I said, “Mr. Gore, Walker Holmes with Pensacola Insider. What has been the involvement of local law enforcement agencies?”
Sheriff Frost’s face turned red. He stared at me, willing me to die. Not quite sure if I knew about his brother’s secret.
“They have been very cooperative,” said Gore. “Without their manpower, we couldn’t have made all the arrests in less than three hours.”
I said, “Our photographer was at Central Booking this morning. He took photos of people not included on your boards.”
The attorney general looked a little flustered. He glanced at Newton, Frost, and Tyndall. I had mentioned something he didn’t want to answer.
“Mr. Holmes,” he replied, “the officers gathered up several people, not all were charged. A few were witnesses cooperating with our investigation. We ask that you use those photos very carefully.”
I didn’t let up. “Do you consider McKee and Rantz the leaders of this operation?”
“Yes, but we do expect more arrests in the upcoming days,” said Gore. “We’ve only begun questioning the men and women arrested today.”
The other reporters stared at me. I had made it clear I knew more than them about this. They didn’t like being scooped. Tyndall wasn’t happy either.
As I walked out, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent stopped me.
“Mr. Gore would like to meet with you tomorrow,” he said as he handed me a business card. “He will be here the rest of the week.”
“My attorney will contact his office,” I said. Gravy wasn’t going to like getting another phone call about me.
Frost pounced on me, dragging me into a hall away from everyone else. Towering over me, standing inches from my face, he whispered, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
His breath smelled of cigarettes and coffee. I stepped into him, stood as tall as I could. “My job.”
The sheriff stepped back. He looked like he wanted to throw a punch. I braced myself.
“You’ve blamed me for your brother’s death,” I said, matching his temper. “We know he was caught up in this porn mess. They were blackmailing him.”
Frost grabbed my arm and pulled me into an empty office. “You print anything about Amos and this shit, and I’ll sue you. I’ll own your paper and your ass.”
Slightly bigger than a closet, the room had a desk, phone, and two chairs. The court system probably used the windowless room for interviews or temporary workspace. If Frost wanted to pound me, no one would see it.
“Your brother came to you for help,” I said. “You left him out to dry. You could have prevented the suicide, and you know it.”
That took the air out of him. “You think you have it all figured out. You don’t understand crap and can’t prove anything.”
I said, “Not yet, but somebody always talks.”
“Not in this case,” said Frost as he straightened his tie and smoothed the lapels of his jacket. His voice was calmer. “Besides, what purpose will it serve? Other than destroying the name of a good officer. My brother wasn’t perfect, but he did a lot of good in this community. Anything you publish will hurt his wife and children, not me.”
Words eluded me. No quick, snappy comebacks came to mind. I stood staring at the sheriff.
“Holmes, you are such a hard-ass. Your personal feuds are leaving a trail of dead bodies, and you stand there not giving a damn about anyone or anything other than your crappy little newspaper.”
“There’s nothing personal about any of this,” I retorted. “It’s about the truth.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” said Frost. “Repeat it in front of a mirror over and over again, and maybe you will start to sound convincing.”
I began, “You—”
But Frost cut me off and jabbed his bony finger into my chest. “Tell it to Amos’s wife and sons. Tell it to Bo Hines. You aren’t from here. You don’t understand how things work in Pensacola, and you have to be stopped. There have been too many casualties.”
I knocked the sheriff’s hand away. “We will continue to report the news.”
“Not for much longer,” said Frost as he headed out of the room.
I sat down in the chair and stared at the drab gray walls. Had I fallen into the Pensacola trap and let grudges drive my reporting? Was I any better than Frost, Wittman, or Tatum?
As I walked back to the Insider office, Bree called.